Beat at Your Own Game
by Just A Nameless Nobody
Summary: Having had enough of Peridot's "Late Night Gaming Exploits," Pearl decides to put a stop to it by beating Peridot at her own game- literally. (SpearMint One-Shot)


**Author's Notes: I hadn't actually noticed that this ship existed until a little while after the "Jail Break" episode, and I'm glad that I found it! These two are almost exactly the same; they're both smart, get easily flustered whenever their plans go wrong, and are both adorable nerds. The only difference is that they're on different sides.**

 **Nonetheless, I hope that you enjoy this One-Shot! Any Comments/Critique would be appreciated!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Steven Universe. The show is owned by the awesome Rebecca Sugar.**

* * *

"Ha! Eat that, you Clods!"

A wide smirk settled itself onto Peridot's face as she leaned back in her chair. Ever since the Crystal Gems had taken her "prisoner", she had spent most of her days either walking around Beach City with Steven or lounging around the Temple, doing miscellaneous things to ease her boredom. It wasn't until the day that Steven had shown her what a "Video Game" was that she had soon found a new hobby.

The smugness never left her as she looked back at the TV screen, eyeing the scores that scrolled down from the top of screen until it came to an eventual stop, highlighting the top ten players of the game. She let out a small chuckle as she looked at the top of the leaderboard. The name "PERI" sat next to a score of "10,000,000", making the measly "3,000,000" below it look insignificant in comparison.

She was about to start up another game when the sound of the Temple Door opening caught her attention. Setting down her controller, she looked over the edge of the loft's railing to see that Pearl had walked into the living room, looking up at her with a stern look on her face.

 _"_ _Great. Time to receive another lecture…"_

Peridot sighed, putting a hand over her face as Pearl made her way up to the loft. Reaching the floor, she had walked swiftly to the front of the TV, tapping her foot as she looked down at Peridot with a disapproving look on her face.

"Peridot, what have we told you about this? Gems may not need sleep, but Steven does!" She pointed Steven's bed, which seemed to be empty.

"This is the fourth time this week that Steven has asked to sleep in one of our rooms, and it's about time to put a stop to this whole "Gaming Situation!"

"It's not as if I'm causing anyone any trouble, correct? Steven is still getting his sleep. I fail to see why I should stop doing something that I enjoy when it isn't affecting the other person."

"Peridot, you don't understand!" Pearl sighed, rubbing her temples in an attempt to soothe her nerves. "Our rooms aren't necessarily the "best" place for humans to sleep in. What Steven needs is a calm environment where he can sleep in peace, and you being here and playing your "games" late into the night aren't helping!"

"Then do something about it!" Peridot scowled as she grabbed the controller, shoving it towards Pearl. "If you manage to beat my score at Space Shooters, I promise to only play my games in the mornings and afternoons. If not, well…" Peridot shrugged, shaking the controller in Pearl's face before gesturing towards the seat next to her.

Taking the controller out of Peridot's hands, Pearl sent her a small frown before sitting in the chair, her back straight and posture poised as she looked at the screen. Tapping one of the buttons brought her to what appeared to be a menu of sorts.

The confusion on Pearl's face was evident, which brought forth a groan of frustration from Peridot. "Bring the cursor up to the word that says "START", then tap that button there," she said, pointing to the lowermost button.

"I knew that! I was just testing the controller; Steven has so many of these things that it's hard to keep track of what does what." A light blush sprang up on Pearl's face, despite the explanation, and she quickly did so.

The screen faded to black for a moment before a "Ping!" sound could be heard. Seconds later, the screen was suddenly lit up, bringing in the view of a ship's cockpit. A timer counted down from three seconds, and when it reached zero, the ship came to life. Various screens lit up as the ship began moving forward, small white dots taking up the black space that lay in front of them.

"The objective of Space Shooters is to survive for as long as you can and gain a large number of points. In order to do so, you need to destroy enemy ships and collect power-ups."

As soon as Peridot had finished her explanation, a small group of enemy ships came into view, heading towards Pearl's ship as they fired off rockets and lasers. Pearl, caught unawares, was hit by two projectiles before dodging to the right. In the lower left-hand corner, a Life bar began flashing, indicating how much health that the ship had left.

Peridot sat back in her chair, arms behind her head and legs crossed over one another as she watched Pearl play.

 _"This is too easy. I can't believe that she actually agreed to this in the first place."_

She let out a small chuckle as she watched Pearl take another hit, but nodded her head in approval at how quickly she had dispatched them. The game continued on like this, and Peridot would take occasional glances at Pearl, only to be met with a strange sight each time.

From the time that she had started playing, Pearl had bent her body slightly, placing her elbow on her knees as she began furiously mashing away at the controller. Her face was contorted into a look of concentration, her eyes darting from one side to the other as if she were fighting a true enemy. Moving her gaze downwards, Peridot could see that Pearl's mouth was open slightly, her lips barely parted as she took small breaths.

Realizing what she was doing, Peridot quickly turned away, her face feeling a bit hotter than usual as she held one of her hands over her chest.

 _"W-What was that? Why did I look at that Clod's lips?"_

She was broken from her thoughts at the sound of a loud explosion emitting from the TV, and she looked at it to be met with a horrifying sight; in the upper right hand corner, Pearl's score had grown at an exponential rate, reaching "9,900,000", and it was still increasing.

Peridot sat up in her seat, her eyes widening as Pearl had reached the final enemy of the game, a large battleship that was currently firing a barrage of projectiles at Pearl.

 _"_ _Yes! There's no way that she can survive this! Not unless she has the-"_

Her jaw, were it not for her body, would have dropped straight to the floor as she watched Pearl activate her power-up: a large laser cannon sat atop her ship, slowly gathering energy as Pearl elegantly avoided each shot that was being fired at her.

Peridot was practically on the edge of her seat at this point, watching in awe as the cannon reached its full capacity. Letting out a soft "Hum", the cannon began to light up until it eventually fired, completely obliterating the ship from existence.

The game brought itself to the leaderboard, scrolling down through the list of scores until it eventually stopped. There, at the top, sat the name "SWRD", with an impressive score of "13,000,000" right next to it.

Seeing that the game was over, Pearl let out a small laugh as she stood up from her chair, smiling confidently as she looked down at Peridot. "I expect you to keep up your end of the deal starting tomorrow."

Peridot, flustered, quickly got up out of her chair, watching as Pearl turned the game off. "H-How?! This doesn't make any sense! How were you able to beat my score on your first time playing the game?!"

Shutting the TV off, Pearl turned around and walked over to Peridot until she was standing right in front of her. "Looks can be deceiving, Peridot."

Smirking, she poked Peridot's visor, putting her finger over where her Gem was, before walking past her and over to the stairs. "Peridot," she said, stopping at the railing, "would it be alright if I were to… accompany you from time to time?" She wrung her hands nervously as she looked down. "As much as I hate to admit it, the game was... actually a bit interesting."

Receiving no answer, Pearl shook her head, chuckling softly as she walked down the steps. It wasn't until she reached the temple door that she had heard a response.

"Yes."

Turning around, she looked to see Peridot on the couch, laying on it and facing the cushions. She hadn't actually expected her to say anything, seeing as how she had taken something that she seemed to have cared about away from her. Nonetheless, a small smile made its way onto her face as she walked through the door.

As soon as she had heard the Temple Door close, Peridot slowly turned around, sighing as she put a hand over her blushing face.

"What have I gotten myself into?"


End file.
